On Friday, March 22, about a dozen students gathered on the MacArthur campus with signs reading “We, the HC [Honors College] politely request an academic discussion”.

Faculty at FAU requested an academic dialogue. President Saunders, you declined. And, in your haste to avoid addressing the demonstrators, their request, and the facts about GEO that we and the media have consistently presented, you hit a student demonstrator with your car. Then, without hesitation, you left the scene; drove the wrong way out of the parking-lot and ran two stop signs while five police officers stood by. The student demonstrator is an exemplary memberof the student body, an Elite Owl Leadership Ambassador, an Honors College senior, and an integral member of several active and award-winning clubs who bridges two campuses. She and her family still have not heard from you. Ignoring the truth does not make it go away, and speaking to the press before your students and affected individuals leads us to further question your priorities. The truth is that you, President Saunders, evaded an academic conversation about the GEO Group, physically harmed an exemplary student, and then rationalized your behavior with allegations of fear.(Images here.) Chairman Barbar, you were not present, yet demanded an apology from studentsin an attempt to obscure the facts of the hit and run.

We demonstrate peacefully because we believe in human rights and in FAU, and we respect deeply every person’s own right to safety. Free speech is not a privilege at FAU - it is a basic human right enshrined not only in the Constitution, but in FAU’s statement of values. The truth remains unchanged: we are, and always have been, committed to nonviolence as both a tactic and an ideal.

Speaking truth to power in the face of injustice is not an act of aggression; it is an act of integrity. We remain committed to FAU’s values. We ask you, President Saunders and Chairman Barbar, to do the same.

President Saunders and Chairman Barbar, it is not too late to end your efforts to divert attention from the truth. The University Faculty Senate of FAU, over 67,000 people who have signed petitions (these, these, these), and human rights organizations such as the ACLU and the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights all stand with the truth. You still have the chance to stop this onslaught of negative publicity for our university by breaking the deal with GEO; we call on you to do so.

2011
(June): A
jury verdict for $6.5 million was returned against the Company in a
wrongful death action brought by the Personal Representative of the
Estate of Ronald Sites, a former inmate at the Company’s Lawton
Oklahoma Correctional Facility (GEO Annual Report, 2012, p. 87). The
inmate was strangled to death by his cellmate in 2005 (PBP, 8/25/12).

2011:
Florida Department of Children and Families cite neglect that led to
Florida man’s death. ((PBP 8/25/12)

2011:
Justice Policy Institute report highlights GEO’s political
strategies of working to make money through harsh policies and longer
sentences. (Justice
Policy Institute)
Strategies include lobbying elected officials.

2011
(August): State
inspectors are unable to get into South Bay Correctional Institute in
Palm Beach County to do a surprise drug sweep. After 20 minutes of
trying to get someone’s attention, including shining flashlights at
security cameras, the state inspectors give up and leave. (FCIR,
8/26/11)

2011:
Corrections secretary, New Mexico hired previously by GEO as a warden
at Lea County Correctional, the very facility for which the company
is now being fined. (Am Independent, 11/15/11)

2008:
Two Inmates, one with schizophrenia and a thyroid condition and the
other with cystic fibrosis, die after being denied their medication.
(Delco Times, 10/16/08; also:Philadelphia
Weekly & Fox News, respectively)

2007:
Texas
canceled an $8 million contract with GEO and closed the Coke County
Juvenile Justice Center. Inspectors found feces on floors and walls,
padlocked emergency exits and overuse of pepper spray on young
inmates. (PBP, 8/25,12).

2007
(October): Texas Youth Commission removed inmates from one of the
company’s juvenile facilities after an official visited and
determined the conditions were “unsafe” (ABC News, 8/5/ 08).

2007
(August): several
hundred detainees at the facility fell ill with abdominal pain and
diarrhea from food poisoning. Detainees told that they had to wait
till morning till the clinic opened, although they were supposed to
have round the clock care. (ABC
News, 8/5/ 08).